The NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championships are part of the NRA National Matches, which are held each summer at Camp Atterbury, an Indiana National Guard base located about 37 miles south of Indianapolis. This year’s NRA Smallbore Nationals took place from July 25 to August 6. (Read part one of our 2023 NRA National Matches coverage.)
The National Matches are a cherished NRA tradition dating back to the formation of the Association.
“The founding of NRA was to teach marksmanship, and it’s only natural that here in the United States shooting competitions evolved, because we’re competitive people,” NRA Second Vice President David Coy said. “The competitions and the traditions we have here at Camp Atterbury are a validation of the training and education our shooters have received from the NRA. I’m just in awe of the skill sets of the folks competing here, and the incredibly high scores that they’re shooting.”
Smallbore 3-Position
Kristin Yeaton of Augusta, Maine, is this year’s NRA National Smallbore Rifle 3-Position Champion. She walked away from the match on Saturday, July 29, with a score of 4418- 139X. The five-day competition was held from July 25-29 at Camp Atterbury, home of the NRA National Matches since 2021.
Yeaton was competing at Camp Atterbury this summer with an Anschutz 1903 rifle and Lapua Center-X .22 Long Rifle ammunition.
She has been attending the NRA Smallbore Nationals in Indiana since 2021. “This is my third year at Camp Atterbury,” Yeaton said. “The camaraderie between everybody at the NRA National Matches is fantastic. You have shooters from all over the country competing against each other, yet still willing to help each other out and keep progressing the program. It’s a wonderful place to shoot.”
Finishing as runner-up was Cameron Zwart of Comstock Park, Michigan, who posted a score of 4362-154X. In third place was Joseph Graf of North Scituate, Rhode Island, with a score of 4327-115X. Additionally, Graf earned the High Intermediate Senior award. (Both Zwart and Graf will appear later in the Iron Man results.)
Not only did Kristin Yeaton capture the overall NRA 3-Position title during the Smallbore Nationals at Camp Atterbury, but she also earned the High Woman title, Conventional 3-Position grand aggregate title, and topped the Metric 3-Position grand aggregate leaderboard with a score of 2095- 39X. For the latter, again in second place was Cameron Zwart with a score of 2066-48X, while third place went to Domingo Otero of Jersey City, New Jersey, with 2062-33X. For capturing the Smallbore Conventional 3-Position win with a score of 2323-100X, Yeaton received a Frank Parsons Trophy Bowl plaque and a $100 check from the NRA.
The High Senior award at the 2023 NRA Smallbore 3-Position Nationals went to Domingo Otero with 4317-90X. As for the High Military Veteran award, that honor went to Wesley Shumaker of Los Alamos, New Mexico, who posted a score of 4065-78X.
In the Conventional 3-Position Team Aggregate, the Black Hawk Braves secured first place with a score of 9112-351X. Team members were Cameron Zwart, Joseph Graf, Michelle Bohren and Team Captain Domingo Otero. In second place was the 207 Junior Eagles with a score of 7529-96X. On that team, which was coached by Kristin Yeaton, were Team Captain Vanessa Parlin, Silas Bolitho, Kaleb Bishop and Brianna Roberts.
On the Metric side of 3-Position, Kristen Yeaton topped the leaderboard in that championship with a score of 2095-39X. She was followed by Cameron Zwart with 2066-48X, while Domingo Otero was in third place with a score of 2062-33X.
SMALLBORE 3-POSITION LEADERBOARD
Smallbore Conventional Prone
Shane Barnhart of Cardington, Ohio, is the winner of the 2023 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Conventional Prone grand aggregate title after posting a score of 6391-525X. For his NRA Conventional Prone victory this year at Camp Atterbury, Barnhart earned a Critchfield Trophy award plaque and a $200 check. The championship was held from July 31 to August 4.
Finishing as runner-up three points behind Barnhart with a score of 6388-524X was Mark Del Cotto of Lexington, Kentucky. He received a championship medallion and a $150 check from the National Rifle Association for his second-place finish in the NRA National Smallbore Rifle Conventional Prone grand aggregate.
Rounding out the top three shooters at the 2023 NRA Conventional Prone Nationals at Camp Atterbury was Virginia T. McLemore of Socorro, New Mexico, who walked away from the competition with a score of 6383-469X. Her third place finish this year at Camp Atterbury earned her a championship medallion, along with a $50 check.
In the Conventional Prone Team Aggregate, the Blackhawk Miners took the victory with 3189-206X. Team members were Evan Owen, Virginia McLemore, Michelle Bohren and Nancy Tompkins. As for runner-up, it was Blackhawk Tribe landing one point behind the Miners with a score of 3188-208X. Coached and captained by Michael Carter, the team included J. Michael O’Connor, Michelle Medige and Jamie Piotrowski.
SMALLBORE CONVENTIONAL PRONE LEADERBOARD
Smallbore Metric Prone
Mark Del Cotto is this year’s NRA National Smallbore Rifle Metric Prone Champion after posting a score of 2355-122X. For the win, Del Cotto received a Pennsylvania Railroad Trophy award plaque and a $100 check from the NRA. His top score also netted him the High Intermediate Senior award, along with first place in Open.
Last year at Camp Atterbury during Nationals, Del Cotto won the NRA National Smallbore Rifle Conventional Prone Championship title and the Critchfield Trophy.
In second place was Virginia T. McLemore with a score of 2352-127X. She was also the High Woman and High Senior award winner this year at Camp Atterbury. Walking away from the match in third place was Daniel Altman of Bowling Green, Ohio, with a score of 2331-114X.
SMALLBORE METRIC PRONE LEADERBOARD
Lones Wigger Iron Man Trophy
Cameron Zwart captured the NRA Lones Wigger Iron Man Trophy on Sunday, August 6, to close out the 2023 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championships at Camp Atterbury. The NRA Lones Wigger Iron Man Trophy is awarded to the highest scoring shooter in the combined Smallbore Rifle Position and Prone championship aggregates at the NRA National Matches.
Zwart exited the 2023 NRA Smallbore Nationals at Camp Atterbury with an aggregate score of 13027-677X. Additionally, in July during the NRA National Smallbore Rifle 3-Position Championship, Zwart finished as the runner-up.
He was shooting an Anschutz 1813 rifle with a Shilen Ratchet barrel put on by Penrod. Zwart’s ammunition was Lapua Center-X .22 Long Rifle. He noted that his ammo was from the company’s Marengo, Ohio, performance testing center.
I had a chance to speak with Zwart prior to his clinching the Iron Man title, and the first thing he said when I asked him about why he keeps coming back to the NRA National Smallbore Championships was “a chance at the Lones Wigger Iron Man Trophy.” He also expressed praise about the smallbore range at Camp Atterbury. “The range at Camp Atterbury is excellent,” Zwart said. “It’s nice that the entire range is paved and with adequate cover, along with plenty of parking located close to the firing line.”
Finishing as the runner-up in the 2023 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championship Iron Man aggregate was Michelle Bohren of Taylor, Michigan, with a score of 13020-712X. In third place was Joseph Graf of North Scituate, Rhode Island, who ended the nearly two weeks of smallbore rifle shooting this summer at Camp Atterbury—spanning the NRA National 3-Position and Prone Championships—by posting a score of 12936-559X. In addition, Graf finished in third place at the NRA National Smallbore Rifle 3-Position Championship.
For his rifle, Graf was shooting an Anschutz 2013 with Eley Tenex .22 Long Rifle ammunition.
He noted that the NRA National Matches have gotten better each year since the move to Indiana. “I’ve been coming since NRA started shooting at Camp Atterbury,” Graf said. “This is where all the trophies are. There are improvements being made each year. I’m always excited to come back every summer.”
LONES WIGGER IRON MAN TROPHY LEADERBOARD
Smallbore F-Class
The NRA Smallbore F-Class Championship is determined from the combined results of the Conventional and Metric F-Class aggregates. This year’s winner is Tom Hittle of Virgilina, Virginia, with a score of 8740-650X. In second place was James Murphy of Owensboro, Kentucky, with 8724-614X, and in third place was Robert Bock of Brewster, New York, with a score of 8723-611X. Murphy was the High Senior winner as well. Additionally, Hittle garnered High Open and High Military Veteran honors, while High Woman went to Barbara Hampson of Homestead, Florida, with a score of 8517-360X.
Ruger was the Presenting Sponsor of the 2023 NRA National Matches at Camp Atterbury.
You can view the full results of the 2023 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championships at competitor.nra.org.
About Camp Atterbury
In 1941, construction began on an Army training facility in the state of Indiana about an hour south of Indianapolis, which only a few months prior had been home to more than 500 farm families spread out over 33,000 acres. The name of the new facility was Camp Atterbury.
During World War II, Camp Atterbury trained more than 275,000 U.S. troops and was home to multiple facilities that aided the war effort. Additionally, it became the new home for about 15,000 Italian and German prisoners of war interned from 1943-1946. The prisoner of war camp section was converted to a Fish and Wildlife Park in 1969.
Today, it’s an active Indiana National Guard base that also serves as the home of the NRA National Matches and, new for next year, the NRA World Shooting Championship, Presented by Walther.
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